PLANNING FOR BABY | The Blanket Collection

Last month, I asked my Twitter friends if they thought I was crazy for wanting to crochet a blanket in the middle of July. Crazy? Maybe! But I had this idea for a checkerboard -style baby blanket, and knew I wanted to wrap up our little baby girl in something just like it. So off I went, crocheting little squares that a week later would be joined to create the blanket above. It turned out to be the easiest blanket I’ve ever made, and great for Summer, since you only work with a tiny section at a time until joining them at the end- and I will say, joining all of the little pieces was certainly time consuming!

So how about you? Are you crafty with a crochet hook, or only wish you could be? Some people appreciate the finished product, but don’t have the desire to work on such an extensive project. I get that. But if you’re somebody who actually wants to learn, and feels overwhelmed- don’t be! I learned how to do all of the stitches you see here by viewing YouTube videos kindly shared by some pretty crafty ladies. You can check out how to do the single crochet (how I made the squares in the above blanket), this video is great. For joining the squares, watch this one. And if you want to make the granny ripple blanket below (fast and easy- promise!), view the crochet-along series here.

Oh, and if you want a crochet blanket, but don’t want to put in the time- I don’t blame you! I purchased the last blanket shown here on Etsy. It was too quirky and cute to pass up.

9 Responses

I can sew one hell of a dress but when it comes to crocheting or knitting, I know zero to none! You’re projects start sounds just like one of mine – I find something and become obsessed and determined to finish it!

I was the opposite! Intimidated by sewing, but I was first shown how to crochet a single crochet in 5th grade, so it never seemed intimidating to me. They both just take some dedication to learn. And it does require a little bit of our crazy obsessiveness to muddle through! haha

Pretty blankets! Crocheting is on my list of things to learn how to do. Thanks for the encouragement! I do love to embroider, cross stitch and make endless amounts of things from felt. What did we do without YouTube? I use it often when I’m trying to master a new skill!

I know! I LOVE YouTube. I had a family friend show me how to crochet when I was in 5th grade, but after making one pot holder, I lost interest, and kind of forgot what I was doing years later. Then a couple of years ago, YouTube saved the day! :)

YouTube taught me to crochet! I got interested because of Pinterest, and found the tutorials of CrochetGeek and Beth in Texas (I can’t link to them as at work and YouTube is banned, but a YouTube search will bring up their channels) and they were so much help.

Also – for people who’d like to make a baby blanket like Mandi’s very beautiful one, without the hassle of sewing all the squares together (if it’s not summer), Beth in Texas has a great tutorial for an entrelac crochet blanket that you work in rounds, interlinking as you go. There’s a link to it on my Pinterest, here: http://pinterest.com/pin/244461085992817653/

YES! I highly recommend Beth in Texas’s tutorials. She’s the one I lined to for joining the squares and for the granny chevron. She’s easy to follow, and the nice thing about YouTube is you can pause, rewind, and fast forward. :)